With a growing – and aging – population, Singapore will require innovative solutions to address the expected increase in demand for healthcare services. Telehealth is one of these solutions.

Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information using infocomm technologies. It was one of the areas covered at the 38th Public Sector Infocomm Seminar, which was held on 23 August.

Mr Ng Chin Kuan, Senior Manager, Healthcare, Industry Cluster Group, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, said developments in telehealth technology are almost inevitable, even in a compact country like Singapore where clinics and hospitals are located relatively near to people who need healthcare services.

“In big countries with large geographical areas, the focus is to deliver healthcare services to rural, remote and underserved areas addressing distance as a barrier,” said Mr Ng. The demand drivers for telehealth technology in urban cities such as Singapore are very different. Some examples of these drivers include congested healthcare facilities and limited access to trained caregivers. Telehealth cuts down on travelling, which will be a great help for the disabled and elderly with mobility problems who still face obstacles in getting from one place to another. At the same time, ubiquitous infocomm connectivity makes Singapore an ideal place for this model of healthcare delivery. Besides this, the IT savviness of the general population and widespread use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets offer infinite possibilities for new and innovative ways of health monitoring and face-to-face consultation.

Telehealth can play a significant role in helping Singapore’s healthcare system to deal with the challenges of a growing and aging population. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) recently issued a Telehealth Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) to address aging in place. The Outpatient Telehealth Initiative project by myHealth Sentinel was awarded a grant under the CFC. Doctors from National University Health System (NUHS) and Frontier Healthcare Group will issue wireless medical devices to chronic disease patients to monitor their conditions at home. The project aims to reduce the length of time required to diagnose new chronic conditions in patients. For existing chronic disease patients, timely intervention will prevent a deterioration of their condition and reduce the number of visits to the doctor.

For telehealth to be widely adopted, there needs to be a mindset change and a readiness to push forward together. All the stakeholders – from healthcare providers, professional bodies to authorities such as MOH – must work closely and agree on the framework to adopt. Issues such as sustainability, legal matters and patient confidentiality have to be dealt with, and evidence based studies, pilots and assessments will be required to iron out the chinks. “Ultimately, what we are looking for is a good and sustainable business model,” said Mr Ng.

Other topics covered at the seminar included the data sharing platform data.gov.sg, the National Library Board’s (NLB) DiscoveReads website, cyber security and the eCitizen portal.

Data.gov.sg is the first-stop portal for government data. In her presentation, Ms Tang Hwee Suan, Deputy Director, Data Management and Analytics Division, Industry Cluster Group, IDA, shared some of the data sharing principles which will enable government data to be shared more efficiently. She also spoke about how open data has culminated in new ideas and applications to improve the way Singaporeans live, work and play.

The best ideas and data come from the collective wisdom of the crowds, said Ms Tang. They come from cooperation between the government, public and private sectors. An application on the availability of carpark lots, for example, was an idea that emerged from a hackathon and depended on inputs from the government and the private sectors.

Presenting on NLB DiscoveReads, Mr Alan Ramos, Associate Consultant, Government Digital Services, IDA, spoke about how public sector websites and portals will have to match the “feel” and vibrancy of the best user-centred designs in the market and how the Government Digital Services team can help agencies design user-centred websites.

User-centred design was also the focus of the presentation on the eCitizen portal, which is the first-stop portal for government information and services. When launched in September 2012, the eCitizen portal started with 42 topics and 326 e-services. Today, it deals with 70 topics and 410 e-services, and the number of visitors has increased by 60 per cent since the launch.

In the area of cyber security, Mr How Jing Lin, Associate Consultant, Infocomm Security and Assurance Division, IDA, shared on the new National Cyber Security Masterplan 2018, the driving factors and some of the new initiatives in the pipeline to address cyber threats for the public, private and people sectors. “Upholding Singapore’s reputation as a trusted and robust infocomm hub requires persistence and commitment. Our continued emphasis in the development of the masterplan is a reflection of this,” said Mr How.